Top 10 Benefits of Remote Careers

An estimated 4.7 million people worked from home in 2019, up 800,000 from 2015. In fact, the meteoric rise of 159 percent from 2005 to 2019 bears witness to the popularity of remote work. Below are ten benefits that help explain these trends.
It’s Not All About 9 to 5
Companies often judge remote workforces on the completion of specific tasks and the quality of submitted work rather than being on task for a particular shift. As such, you’ll likely find less pressure to rush through an assignment to beat some whistle or other signal that the work day is done. The “extra” time allows you to check your work and address hiccups in your web development designs.
More Time for Family and Personal Pursuits
With less emphasis on when to report and leave (so long as deadlines are met), remote workers have considerable flexibility in constructing their days. If you’re an early riser, you might tackle that coding project well before traditional office hours and find your afternoons free for personal or household tasks. Imagine that you're eating breakfast or lunch in your home as you type that report, analyze figures or design that website. You will also find additional time to attend the child’s recital or ballgame or plan a dinner or outing on the town, all thanks to early completion of tasks or not spending time in traffic jams or subways.
Your Own Work Setting
The flexibility afforded by remote careers often encompasses a more casual or relaxed setting. Except for video conferences, in which case you or your surroundings should look presentable, you likely need not fret if the bed is not made or if you don’t have a suitable outfit clean, pressed and ready to wear. You have at your disposal multiple rooms and tables for work space, not merely a cubicle or small desk. If you’re alone when you work, you don’t wait for co-workers to use the restroom. Your refrigerator or cabinet furnishes snacks and beverages, eliminating the need to hunt for change for snack machines.
Working Through Illnesses or Health Emergencies
In 2019, more than two million workers missed work time due to sickness and injuries. Remote careers can stunt the lost work time and earnings. Those not too sick to forge ahead with work tasks need not worry about passing viruses or other germs to co-workers, clients or customers. The ability to work remotely comes especially in handy for employees and their employers when health or other emergencies necessitate stay-at-home directives and recommendations.
More Money
As a general rule, remote workers fetch generally larger pay than their counterparts at offices, stores, plants or other physical work places. In 2018, median pay for those with remote jobs stood at $42,442. Overall, workers earned a median that year of $38,184. Technology jobs and those in the financial, legal and other professional sectors typically yield higher earnings and involve more specialized skill and knowledge. Jobs that require physical presence, such as retail, fast-food and production of goods, often pay less.
It’s Safer
An employee is injured at work every seven seconds. That’s 510 work-related injuries per hour, 12,600 a day, 88,500 per week and 4,600,000 per year. In 2017, employers suffered from these injuries at the tune of nearly 104 million lost hours of productivity.
Without implying that you can’t get hurt at home, remote careers place you less at risk for especially serious injuries than work that puts you in an office, plant or densely occupied facility. When you labor remotely, fewer (if any) people can spread viruses and germs to you. At a traditional workplace, you face potential risks of chemicals, poorly-ventilated facilities, machines or equipment that can hurt you seriously if misused or breaks, numerous objects that can fall on you, liquids or objects upon which you might slip and fall -- just to name a few.
More Opportunities in Rural Settings
With enough broadband or wireless capacity, small towns and rural areas shed the tag of having nothing to offer professionals. Web development jobs can come to those of you who live outside of metropolitan areas if your internet is strong enough. Imagine someone in, say, rural Iowa or the Carolinas who is only a phone call or good internet or network connection away from clients in Chicago, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, New York or other hubs of economic activity. In fact, your close proximity to say mountains, farmland, sparsely-occupied beaches or small-town “main streets” can attract media platforms or businesses who cater to residents or tourists of these places.
Remote careers also address another barrier to employment in rural areas -- the lack of public transportation.
Reducing Transportation Costs, Time and Concerns
It takes the average worker nearly 27 minutes to get to work. One-way commute times run 25.6 minutes for non-carpooling drivers. Not surprisingly, large metropolitan areas have drivers spending upwards of an hour one-way to work from home and vise-versa. Holders of remote careers save time and expenses for gas and wear-and-tear of vehicles. Commuting, especially by car, exposes you to more risks of motor vehicle wrecks. Accidents during trips between home and work do not occur within the scope of your job and generally do not qualify you for workers’ compensation benefits.
Tax Benefits for the Self-Employed
For the self-employed set, remote careers can mean lower tax bills. If you work for yourself rather than for an employer, you may write off expenses for the portion of your home you use for the business. This may include your study, basement or computer room if you use it regularly and exclusively for the business. Your break for expenses such as property taxes, repairs, improvements and utilities stands in proportion to the portion of the home dedicated to the business.
Job Security
Web development is tailored to remote work with computers serving as the primary manner of creation and communication. The field offers significant work opportunities for those with knowledge and skill in coding and other aspects of designing websites for computers, tablets and smartphones. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that demand for these jobs will rise by 13 percent, or 29,000 new positions, between 2018 and 2028.
The prospect for employers of saving expenses can support job security for remote workers. Business owners relying primarily on remote labor need not maintain offices or pay the associated expenses of rent, upkeep, energy and other utilities. That means retention of more of the revenues generated by services for clients.
Developing websites allows you to explore your technical and creative side. In these times where movement is restricted, remote careers and work may help you avoid financial pitfalls and afford longer-term viable income and work-life balance. Contact us to learn about this important and valuable career and to enroll in our web technology programs.